In Reply to: After yesterday's game, I'm not sure what to think. posted by ej on January 04, 2026 at 10:02:15
I think you're right on.
I don't know if the post position is fixable this season. It just isn't there with the two big posts as you laid out perfectly.
The play that set in my mind - and that really lowered my confidence - was when Dent drove into the paint, drew the help defender and looked to drop the ball off to Jamerson breaking for the hoop for an easy dunk only to find Jemerson floating around just where he had been. Dent articulated his feelings to Jamerson on court after the play and was a bit later shown talking with obvious disgust to a teammate seemingly on the same subject. Basically, I can do all that I can do but if my teammates won't get on the same page with me, I can't accomplish very much.
It was after that play that he began to do it himself, taking those midrange shots Cronin has been calling for him to take.
But Jamerson's utter failure to recognize the situation and do his part in the offense rather than just hanging around and hoping to get a rebound or tip it out to another player maybe after the play that was unfolding in real time right there next to him - that was really depressing and we've seen it over and over again from these guys all season long so far.
We have a potentially killer weapon in Donovan Dent but these guys mostly don't seem to get the picture of how that ought to work so we're left with a guy who can score a bunch of points but his talents as a point guard are wasted.
Your adjective about them - young, immature - seems completely right on.
Like you my mind categorizes this game as a five or six point loss. The effect of the rust (and I appreciate traprh's comments on the subject as well) to me defines our first half. The game that I think about when trying to project forward into our possibilities for the rest of the season was the second half.
Wisconsin will be the test. That first half at Iowa is behind us. The second half is in our heads now. (Including those dumb fouls late you mentioned that were very high in Cronin's post game thoughts as well). Where they take it from here is the focus right now. Wisconsin is a road game. It's a hostile environment for sure. But it is also a team with which we match up pretty well also. It's a winnable game. It's a game that at this point is absolutely essential for us.
It will be fascinating to see if we can get that done.
One last caveat here: looking back to what Phil mentioned before the Iowa game, questioning whether or how quickly Cronin would get to going small against Iowa as it wasn't an opponent against whom Phil thought our bigs figured to do that well and against whom our small ball lineup with Bilodeau at center matched up very well.
Cronin clearly also believes it is essential for us to develop our centers to have any real chance in the post-season. I don't see that happening but I can't fault the conclusion. I just feel like if something isn't going to happen, if it's just not there, all one accomplishes by insisting on continuing to focus on trying to develop it and force it to happen is you lose a number of additional games along the way that you might have won had you accepted reality and embraced doing what you still are capable of doing.
He's not wrong - no way we can take Michigan and others with strong and elite big front lines without that center play. But I just don't see how a 3 point shooting float outside forward or a no offense lower level player develop into stand in there and deliver in the paint centers in the next three months.
Thanks for your posting and your analysis as always